“I’m so sorry.”
“Knox was gone by the time I came back. Something happened at his fraternity and they shut it down. His parents paid everyone off and transferred him to another school. I didn’t see him again until he came back here after grad school. The glassworks was closed by then, so he went to work for the bank. I was married with a little one.”
“It must have been difficult to have him living right across the street.”
“He acted like we were barely acquainted, so I did, too. I didn’t tell him about the baby,” Marigold said. “My parents were so ashamed; they forbid me from telling anyone.”
“How hard that must have been for you,” Kay said. “How lonely you must have felt.”
“I never told anyone,” Marigold said. “Not even Ken. When we got married, he thought he was the first.”
“He was, in a way,” Kay said. “He loved you; it meant something.”
“But I lied,” Marigold said. “He knows now, of course.”
“When did you tell him?”
“Two years ago,” Marigold said. “My son got in touch with me, my son by Knox, that is. The adoption agency let me know that he wanted to meet me. I can’t tell you how upset I was. I was terrified someone would find out about it.”
“Of course you were.”
“He was adopted by a family in Pennsylvania, a Jewish couple. He was about to graduate from law school at Penn State, and had a job lined up in Pittsburgh, with a law firm where a friend of his father’s works. He’s a big boy, of course, how could he not be, with my and Knox’s genes? He didn’t play football in high school, though; his parents said he was more of a bookworm.”
“Do you have a photo?”
Marigold was beaming, her face pink, as she scrolled through the photos kept on her phone, and then held it out for Kay to look at. The young man had dark hair and the Rodefeffer nose, but his build was classic linebacker Lawson. Kay could see both his biological parents in his facial features. His adoptive parents, in contrast, were short, friendly looking people who were obviously proud of their son.
“He’s handsome,” Kay said. “I can see your dad in him.”
Marigold broke out into fresh tears.
“My father refused to meet him,” she said. “He’s ashamed of him.”
“That’s too bad,” Kay said. “Maybe he’ll change his mind one day.”
“It’s the sin, you see,” Marigold said. “It’s living evidence of my sin.”
“If God can forgive you, surely your father can, too.”
Marigold shook her head.
“He won’t,” Marigold said. “My father is a devout Christian, and he has never forgiven me for what I did.”
“I would think a devout Christian would be the first person to forgive you.”
“Our church is strict on following the literal Word,” Kay said. “Sin is sin and will be punished by God, either here on Earth or in hell.”
“I’m sorry I can’t agree,” Kay said. “I believe in a loving God, who has great compassion for all of us.”
“Well, how convenient for you,” Marigold said. “If you studied your Bible you’d know better.”
“There’s no point in us arguing about doctrine,” Kay said. “Let’s just agree to disagree. After your son contacted you, did you tell Knox?”
“I had to,” Marigold said. “The adoption agency was going to contact him next.”
“How did he take the news?”
“He was furious, of course,” she said. “He was engaged to Meredith, with all her political connections, and planning to run for the senate. It was exactly the kind of thing that could ruin his chances.”
“Did Knox meet him?”
“He met the parents, separately from me.”
“How did that go?”
“Knox offered to pay them off to keep them quiet and they were insulted. They refused, and our son never contacted him.”
“That’s sad,” Kay said. “Did your meeting go well?”
“It did,” she said. “He’s a lovely young man with excellent manners. His mother showed me a photo album of all the growing up years I missed. They invited me to his law school graduation; I didn’t go, of course. What if someone saw me there?”
“It was a brave thing you did, giving him up,” Kay said. “And look what happiness you gave his parents. That’s the most precious gift.”
“They were so kind,” Kay said. “I didn’t know what to expect, them being Jewish, but they seemed so normal.”
“Now, Marigold,” Kay said. “You know there are many people who don’t believe the same way you do, and yet they lead exemplary lives and love their children. They want the same things for their children that you do for your own.”
“The way this country is going we’ll soon be outnumbered,” Marigold said. “I hate to think what will happen to us Christians when the heathens take over.”
“Oh, Marigold, sweetie, have some more wine,” Kay said. “I know I’m going to.”
“You can stick your head in the ground if you want to, but I know what’s coming,” Marigold said. “The signs are all around us, just like it says in the Book of Revelation.”
Kay took a deep breath and smiled at her guest.
“Tell me something,” Kay said, as she poured Marigold’s next glass of wine. “After the boy’s adoptive parents refused to accept Knox’s bribe, what did he offer you?”
Marigold’s face turned a deep red and she sputtered, “Not a thing!”
“I know about the account he set up,” Kay said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Stuart was careless with his bank statements,” Kay said. “I know Stuart and Knox were depositing money in an account that only you drew from.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t run straight to the newspapers with that.”
“I don’t run that kind of campaign,” Kay said. “I should be elected upon my own merit, not at the expense of someone else’s reputation.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Marigold said. “I’m flabbergasted.”
“Tell me why you accepted the money.”
“Well, I was owed it, wasn’t I?” she said. “Breaking my heart like he did, and leading me into temptation, into sins of the flesh. All those years of keeping that awful secret, and not knowing my own son, my own flesh and blood. All those years Knox paraded those horrible wives around town, and cheated on them any chance he got. Everyone knew about it.”
“So why did you go see him on the day he died?”
“He quit paying,” she said. “I went over there to ask him why. He said he wasn’t going to give me another red cent; that he couldn’t afford to.”
“That was it?”
“He took out his wallet and threw a bunch of bills at me, said that was all he had left. I wasn’t going to stand there and be treated like that, so I left.”
“Did you take the money?”
“I certainly did not.”
“Where was he when he did this?”
“In his house.”
“Where in his house?”
“He was standing on the stairs,” Marigold said. “On the landing, there.”
“That seems odd; why would he be up there?”
“I knew he was home; I saw him go in. So when he didn’t answer the doorbell, I tried the door; it was unlocked. As soon as I got inside, I called out to him, but he only came halfway down the stairs. He used very vulgar language. When I told him why I was there he laughed at me.”
“So he threw the money down the steps?”
“Yes, I’ve just told you,” Marigold said. “Why does that matter?”
“Everything matters in a murder investigation.”
“I’m innocent,” Marigold said. “Meredith was in there after me; she probably pushed him down the steps.”
“If they can find Meredith,” Kay said. “Did you tell the police all of this?”
Marigold shook her head
.
“You need to tell the truth,” Kay said. “It could save you from going to jail.”
“I’ve been praying on it,” Marigold said. “But I haven’t got the go-ahead yet.”
“Sometimes the Lord trusts us to know the right thing to do,” Kay said. “Even if it’s hard to do.”
“I’m hoping I won’t have to,” Marigold said. “If they can find Meredith, and she confesses, I won’t have to tell anyone anything.”
“How likely is that, really?”
“She already tried to kill Knox once. I heard she confessed to poisoning her father and late husband,” Marigold said. “Why they let her out of the nut house I’ll never know.”
“Meredith was mentally ill,” Kay said. “I gather they couldn’t use anything she said against her on account of that.”
“People like that should be locked up,” Marigold said. “They should throw away the key.”
“You wouldn’t like that to happen to Jared, though, would you?”
“My son is not crazy.”
“But he definitely has some emotional problems, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Some might say he was only calling a spade a spade,” Marigold said. “Some might say he was only pointing out what we all know to be true.”
“That someone in this house is a homosexual witch?”
“I know for a fact that Grace Branduff reads books about witchcraft,” Marigold said.
“Reading Harry Potter hardly constitutes devil worship,” Kay said.
“Jared told me she’s friends with those girls who hold hands in the halls. I heard she had an unnatural interest in Charlotte Fitzpatrick, and after Charlotte’s mother put a stop to it, Grace verbally abused Charlotte in front of a classroom full of children. And foul-mouthed! You should have heard that child in the school library; she cussed me out like a drunken sailor.”
“Was that the day you gathered up the books you wanted to burn?”
“For the sake of the children!” Marigold said. “Their minds are soft at that age; you can’t go filling them up with witchcraft and sexual perversions. Grace Branduff is clearly in the fast lane to hell.”
“Grace Branduff is an intelligent, compassionate, brave young woman who has been through a lot in her young life,” Kay said, as she stood up. “I will not allow you to disparage her in my home.”
“Well, good luck with that one,” Marigold said, whilst struggling to get to her feet. “You’re going to need it.”
Marigold seemed a little unsteady, but when Kay reached out to help her, Marigold pulled away as if she’d been burned.
“You’re not planning to drive, are you?” Kay asked her.
“I walked here and I can walk back home, thank you very much,” Marigold said.
“Thank you for confiding in me,” Kay said. “I won’t tell a soul what you’ve told me.”
“You got me drunk,” Marigold said. “That was a dirty trick.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Kay said. “You’re so troubled; I’m sorry I can’t help you more. Be careful.”
And with that, Kay shut her front door behind Marigold Lawson.
Kay was halfway through a carton of chocolate ice cream when Sonny knocked on her front door. She didn’t try to hide it, just wiped her mouth with a napkin and answered the door with the carton in one hand and the spoon in the other.
“Wow,” he said as he stepped inside. “Is this what a Kay Templeton bender looks like? I want in.”
Kay went to the kitchen and got him a spoon. He sat down at the table and accepted the utensil, along with the carton. He ate a spoonful and then looked at her.
“This needs whipped cream,” he said.
Kay got the can of whipped cream out of the refrigerator, handed it to him, and sat down across from him.
“So what brought this on?” he asked as he shook the can and then squirted the whipped cream into the carton.
Kay was tempted to tell him about her visit with Marigold, but decided to keep her word instead.
“Politics,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I can see that,” he said, gesturing to the carton. “You know, it’s only going to get worse after you’re elected.”
“Thanks,” she said. “That helps a lot.”
“I’m just saying,” he said. “You might want to find a healthier way to deal with stress than diving head first into the ice cream. I think you’re beautiful exactly the way you are, mind you, and I could stand to lose a few, myself, but I just got you and I don’t want to lose you to a heart attack or a stroke.”
“I know,” Kay said. “It’s a problem I have.”
“What do you say we go for a walk?” Sonny said. “Let’s try out that rail trail the folks come all the way from D.C. to walk on.”
“I don’t want to leave the house,” Kay said.
“You’re not likely to run into any Rose Hill residents down there,” Sonny said. “All that fresh air might get into their closed little minds, might blow out some of the dust they’ve got in there.”
“I’ll change my shoes,” Kay said.
“That’s my girl,” Sonny said.
“When we get back I’ll make you a nice salad for dinner,” Kay said.
“Don’t let’s go crazy, now,” Sonny said. “We’re not rabbits.”
The rail trail ran alongside the Little Bear River from Rose Hill to Fleurmania.
“I don’t think I can make it all the way to the lake,” Kay said, as they passed the dam right below town.
“Let’s start slow,” Sonny said. “We’ll walk as far as the old depot in Lumberton and then turn around.”
“That’s probably three miles round trip,” she said, already breathless.
“If we get tired, we’ll sit,” he said.
“If I have a heart attack, Grace will be an orphan again,” she said.
“You’ll be fine.”
They walked in companionable silence for a while, and Kay was conscious of her heavy breathing and heart pounding in her chest. They passed the soccer fields on the Eldridge college campus, rounded the bend, and turned southeast. As soon as they came to a small park-like setting at the back edge of the campus, they stopped.
“This is nice,” Kay said. “I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never been back here.”
“Let’s take a break,” Sonny said.
They sat on the bench and enjoyed the prospect of the river, shallow in this part, as it cascaded over multiple large rocks. On the other side of the water, rhododendron covered the steep bank in a profusion of purple flowers and deep green foliage. The air was cool and sweet smelling.
“Honeysuckle,” Sonny said. “It’s one of my favorite things about summer.”
“Look,” Kay said.
A doe and her white-speckled twin fawns came down the steep bank on the other side of the river, drank some water, and then scampered back up the hillside to disappear in the underbrush.
“This is nice,” Sonny said. “We should do this every night.”
“I’d love to.”
“It’s nice to have someone to do stuff with,” he said. “I gotta tell you, I’m sick of my own company, sitting in that apartment every night, watching television.”
“With Grace gone I’ve been at loose ends.”
“After Karla left,” he said, “I was so mad at her that I spent a long time going over and over what she did to me, to our family. I kinda got stuck in a rut being miserable about it. I couldn’t get past how unfair it was, how deceitful she’d been. Then I realized I was wasting what was left of my life and, meanwhile, she was going on with hers. Being mad about it wasn’t going to change the past. I’m still mad, don’t get me wrong, I’m no angel; but now it doesn’t hurt so much. It’s more like a bad knee than a broken leg; does that make sense?”
“It does,” Kay said.
“So I’m wondering if this thing with Matty is more like a bad knee or a broken leg?”
Kay thought a moment.
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“It’s actually more like an allergy,” she said.
Sonny laughed.
“I only notice it when I’m around him, and it’s more irritating than painful.”
“That’s good to hear,” he said. “What about this engagement situation you had?”
“Shug was a nice man,” Kay said. “His wife died of cancer, and he’d dated around for a while before we met. Looking back, I think he was just ready to get married again when I happened along; I think whoever he met next would’ve done as well.”
“Don’t talk about my good friend Kay like that,” Sonny said. “That man knew quality when he met it, that’s all.”
“I don’t know,” Kay said. “After I broke the engagement he had a new girlfriend within the week; he married her not too much later.”
“Why did you break up?”
“I realized I was letting myself get carried along,” she said. “I liked Shug; he was a good guy; you would’ve liked him, too. But I didn’t love him, and I didn’t feel loved by him. Don’t get me wrong; he was wonderful to me, but I didn’t feel what I thought I should feel. I think maybe you have to love somebody in order to feel loved.”
“Did you regret it?”
“Not for a minute,” she said. “As soon as I ended it, I felt a huge sense of relief. I hadn’t realized how much I didn’t want to marry him until I didn’t have to.”
“Once you see how wrong it can go, you’re bound to take it more seriously,” he said. “It’s risky to love people.”
“Do you want to get married again?”
“I do,” he said. “I miss having somebody in my corner.”
“Someone you can count on.”
“Only if they’re not pretending,” he said. “I guess I never had that with Karla; I just thought I did.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” she said. “You deserve better.”
“I’m starting to think I’ve found better,” he said.
“We’ll see,” she said. “Let’s walk.”
As they started off, Sonny grabbed her hand and held it, swinging it between them as they went.
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